A New Day
by SarahTee
Summary: Sam, Gabriel, Dean and Cas face off against Lucifer... Sequel to 'Last Night' and 'Their Darkest Hour'.
1. Chapter 1

Title: A New Day (1/?)  
Author: lonelyphoenix85  
Rating: PG13 for this part, will probably rise in later chapters  
Genre: Angst  
Pairing: Dean/Cas slash, Sam/Gabe pre-slash  
Spoilers: Season 5 through to Hammer of the Gods.  
Warnings: ummm...none that I can think of :-D  
Word Count: 2616  
Disclaimer: It only belongs to me when I'm dreaming - property of the almighty Kripke!

**Author's Note:** The series so far: Last Night, followed by Their Darkest Hour. This story picks up mid-'Their Darkest Hour', but from Lucifer's point of view - it may help to re-read it quickly (it's only 2800-ish words) first to make this easier to follow at the start *grins*

Lucifer glanced over at the older hunter. He could feel Dean's desperation, could hear his silent protests.

He knew Sam wasn't going to say yes yet – he could feel the man's guilt as he made his decision, as he picked mankind over the brother who'd raised him. Dean's support would have lessened that delightful pain, and so he withheld it.

The fear and anguish he felt from the elder brother made it that little bit sweeter – the frustration and hate and anger reminded him of Hell, and fed his hatred of the creatures, the _insects_, in front of him.

Sam's refusal when it came brought no anger. It was expected, and Lucifer intended to enjoy what came next. Sam Winchester was going to say '**Yes**', and it would be interesting to see how long it took.

"I won't ask nicely again Sam..." he said, his voice low, tone menacing.

After a few seconds of silence, Lucifer let out a sigh – he'd invented the concept of a reluctant, reasonable enemy after all...most demons these days just didn't seem to understand how much more effective it was, to have a confused victim who would turn to _you_ for help in the end, instead of a quivering terrified mess.

Not that the quivering terrified messes weren't fun to play with – but situations like this required more...finesse...than demons like Alastair possessed.

It was one of the things that set the fallen apart from their formerly human counterparts. The human demons could be vicious, imaginative, cruel...but his own brethren were more capable of true evil than they would ever be.

Good or evil, the humans would always be lesser.

"As you wish."

He reached out with his blackened Grace, grasping Dean and cutting off his breath. Only slightly at first, but his grip tightened slowly as he spoke to Sam again.

"His death will not be quick. It also won't be the end."

He watched as Sam twisted to stare at his brother.

"I will kill him, again and again Sam, until you say yes. Can you watch him die over and over?"

Horror flooded the hunter's mind and shone in his eyes, and Lucifer hid a smirk.

"All because you're too selfish to give one single right answer…"

He could feel the terror, the guilt, the pain rising up within the man.

Only one thought was clear enough for him to distinguish in the chaos of Sam's mind.

_*Not again. Not again. Not again.*_

A litany. A prayer. Repeated over and over in desperation.

Squeezing harder, he watched as Dean's eyes dimmed, internally sneering at the man's last thoughts.

He heard a broken sob, and looked down at Sam in time to hear him whisper

"Yes."

Distantly he heard Dean fall, barely breathing, to the floor as he released his hold. He felt his vessel falling away, felt it crumble as he left it, little more than dust and ash now without his Grace to hold it together.

He sunk himself into Sam, pushing aside the hunter's consciousness with little effort, spreading himself throughout the vessel – his _true_ vessel – feeling the way it held his Grace, the way it moulded to him almost perfectly.

_Almost_ perfectly.

By the time he realised anything was wrong, it was already too late.

SPNSPNSPN

_Three hours earlier…_

"I'm still not sure about this dude…there's so many ways this could go wrong it's not even funny…"

"You're just worried I'll make you squawk like a chicken whenever someone mentions pie once I'm done playing with your memories…"

"Okay see, that there? Not helping."

"I will make sure Gabriel does not make you squawk like a chicken Dean."

"Aww, where's your sense of humour bro? If you don't like chickens, I bet he'd make a mean parrot…it's easy, just repeat after me Dean-o: Who's a pretty boy then?"

Sam stuffed his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing, quickly looking to the ground so that Dean might not notice. He'd never seen his brother go red so fast, in fact if this was a cartoon he'd probably have had steam shooting out his ears by now.

Before Dean could reply Cas interrupted, taking the hunter by the elbow and leading him a short distance away after shooting Gabriel an exasperated glare.

When he'd finally got the urge to laugh under control, Sam looked up, only to see Gabriel smirking at him. The mental image of Dean squawking like a parrot as Cas fed him crackers caught Sam off-guard and he barked out a laugh before catching himself and glaring at Gabriel.

A quick glance at Dean and Cas, and Sam realised he could probably laugh all he liked, since it was highly unlikely either party would notice.

"Looks like they finally got the hint…" Sam said, quickly looking back to Gabriel.

"And not a moment too soon Sammy. You should know though, if he hurts my brother, he'll think Hell was a nice vacation after I'm through with him."

Gabriel's tone was light as he spoke, but Sam could sense the steel beneath it. He couldn't blame him either – Cas was the only brother the guy had who wasn't a complete douchebag. Still…

"I think if there was ever a time when the 'hurt my brother' speeches were unnecessary, this is probably it Gabe…but just in case, you should know that even being an archangel won't help Cas if he hurts Dean."

He kept his own tone conversational, and after a second, continued.

"If Dean ever hurts Cas rest assured I'll kick his ass for it too though…Dean's my brother, but Cas is family too and my brother is occasionally a stupid dick."

"Well I'm not gonna argue with you there Sammy," Gabriel grinned. "Ever notice how we seem to be doing all the work lately, and they get all the fun?"

"They've got someone to have fun with…which would be nice, but right now I'd settle for chocolate…?" Sam replied with a hopeful smile.

"Your wish…" the archangel paused briefly as he raised his hand, fingers poised, "…is my command kiddo!"

He snapped his fingers and was suddenly holding a big bag of Hershey's chocolate kisses. At Sam's look, he shrugged with a grin.

"Figured this was the next best thing," he said, holding the now open bag out to the hunter.

SPNSPNSPN

Dean held his tongue as Cas led him away from the infuriating archangel.

He wasn't stupid – he knew the guy was just trying to lighten the atmosphere, and he gained major points for making Sammy _actually_ laugh – even if it was at Dean's expense.

"Dean, I agree that this plan is not without its risks, but you cannot deny that it is _much_ more likely to succeed than our original plan…"

"Assuming Lucifer doesn't see through the fake memories, or notice all the mojo floating around, and assuming he doesn't just kill me outright when he gets here. Assuming Gabriel, who hasn't seen his brother in thousands of years, has guessed the guy's reactions right, and what he's assuming will happen happens… There's just way too much assuming going on for me to ever feel comfortable with it Cas…"

"Do you trust me Dean?"

"Of course." Dean didn't have to think about it, didn't hesitate. He trusted his angel with his life…even more, he trusted him with _Sam's_ life.

"Then even if you can't fully trust Gabriel, trust that I trust my brother – to make this work if it can, and to do what's necessary if it fails."

"Cas…I…" Dean trailed off, leaning in to the angel. He brought their foreheads together gently, hands resting softly on arms and necks as Cas returned the light embrace.

"Please, Dean…" Cas' voice was soft, barely above a murmur.

"Okay Cas, okay…"

Cas closed the remaining distance as his lips pressed softly against the hunter's, the kiss quickly turning more heated and desperate.

SPNSPNSPN

"Okay lovebirds, break it up…time's a'wasting after all…"

Dean and Cas pulled apart and Dean flashed Sam a guilty look, unsure how his brother would react to this new development.

"Uh…Sammy, I uh…I was gonna say something…uh…"

"Dude, I thought we agreed – no chick-flick moments, remember?" Sam said lightly, not really in the mood to draw out his brother's discomfort. "Dean?" He waited until Dean met his eyes before continuing. "I'm happy for you, really." And then, because someone had to break the moment – they were Winchesters after all – he added, "Just don't screw it up dude."

"Yeah yeah yeah, we both wish you lots of happiness and little angel kiddies…can we get on with stopping my brother's temper tantrum now?"

Before anyone could make more of a response than Dean's panicked yelp of "Angel kiddies?", Gabriel began handing out jobs – Sam and Dean were in charge of the standard demon-proofing (because as Dean had pointed out, unexpected interruptions would be _bad_…), while he and Cas worked on tweaking the required sigils, placing them for maximum effect and triple checking each other's work to ensure no mistakes were made.

When it was all done to the elder archangel's satisfaction he snapped his fingers and steered the brothers towards the buffet table that had appeared.

"Eat up boys, don't want either of you going all girly and passing out from hunger."

Before either brother could argue their stomachs decided to back Gabriel up, complaining loudly – breakfast had been neglected in favour of filling Dean and Cas in on the new plan and working out the kinks and details.

Gabriel plucked a hair from Sam's head, ignoring the hunter's surprised shout as he turned to Cas.

"Come on bro, we've got work to do whilst these two stuff their faces."

With that the angels moved to the far side of the room and Sam and Dean headed for the food.

SPNSPNSPN

They were ready.

_*Well, as ready as four idiots on the run from Heaven and about to face-down the devil can be,* _Gabriel thought wryly.

He'd been the picture of confidence since first suggesting the plan to Sam, but now…now he wasn't so sure. Were they biting off more than they could chew?

Probably – in fact, almost certainly. But he _was_ working with Winchesters, and they did have a habit of pulling off impossible plans, so perhaps the chance of failure was a factor in their favour?

Shaking his head to clear it of the slightly insane logic, he took an unnecessary deep breath.

"Right, we all good to go kiddies?"

Three heads nodded slowly, and he grinned encouragingly.

"Awesome – Sam, I need you in the corner by those pretty red sigils. Keep quiet until it's your turn to speak, no matter what happens. It'll get bad, but trust me to take care of things, okay? Unless _I_ tell you otherwise, I'll have it under control. You just get ready to act your ass off."

Sam smiled faintly and headed over to the corner, briefly wondering whether to sit on the floor or remain standing. He quickly dismissed the idea of sitting on the floor because it would slow his reaction time if anything went wrong, and half a second later a stool appeared in front of him. He glanced over at Gabriel and gave him a grin and a nod of thanks – he could sit comfortably on the stool and still be quick to move if necessary.

As he sat down, the whole corner disappeared from sight, blank walls and empty space the only thing visible.

"Cas…?"

"We are fully shielded from the Host," he said. His forehead creased in concentration for a second and the air shimmered around them.

Suddenly the warehouse was a war-zone.

Blood pooled across the ground, and bodies lay everywhere, huge ash wings spreading out from each one.

Two pairs of wings had no bodies between them, and Cas walked over to one set. He dropped to lay as though he'd fallen, the wings now appearing to be his. His skin paled as his neck shimmered and suddenly there was torn flesh where a moment ago it had been smooth. Blood coated his neck, covering his collar and chin as it spread to form a pool around him, leeching up into his clothing where it touched.

"Bro…?"

Cas raised his head in question.

"The wings…you didn't have that much Grace left…" Gabriel trailed off softly, not wanting to remind his brother of how bad things had been.

"Of course. My apologies."

The dark patterns of ash around Cas disappeared, setting him apart from the other bodies, and he lowered his head to the ground again.

Finally, Gabriel turned to Dean.

The hunter's eyes were locked on his angel, his face twisted in fear and horror.

He rested a hand lightly on the man's arm, getting his attention.

"It's not real kid."

Dean nodded slowly, tearing his eyes away.

"Where is it?"

Gabriel snapped his fingers in reply and a body appeared at their feet.

Sucking in a shaky breath, Dean knelt down beside it, his fists clenching as he glanced towards the 'empty' corner where Sam sat.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Gabriel knelt across from him, looking at him with more compassion than Dean had thought the archangel capable of.

"I'm sorry Dean…this is going to seriously suck for you, and there's nothing I can do about it. It's going to look and feel real, it has to. I can protect your real memories by holding the fake ones slightly separate, but even after I remove them they won't disappear completely – you'll have made real memories from them. I could take those too, but it'd mean you wouldn't remember what happens now…you might even lose more, memories are tricky things – the way your tiny little human brains associate things with past memories, you could lose anything that even vaguely links to what happens today…"

"No!" He wouldn't take that risk…couldn't risk losing his memories of Sam, of Cas… "No, I dealt with the memories of Hell, I'll deal with this."

"Always the hero, aye Dean-o?" Gabriel chuckled softly, but there was little humour in it. "You know I still think there's a reason it was destined to be you and Sammy – I think perhaps Dad made sure you had the right bloodline because you could do _this_. Not many people would've told my brothers to go screw themselves – you Winchesters really are something else, and I think perhaps that's why we'll win."

He could only pray he was right, and so he did.

He prayed to a Father he'd spent nearly two thousand years searching for that he was right, and that they would be enough.

Before Dean had a chance to speak, Gabriel donned his customary smirk and raised his eyebrows slightly in challenge.

"You ready kid? Now or never…"

Dean wrapped his arms around the bloodied body in front of him without glancing down again, and nodded. He pretended not to notice the way Gabriel's eyes had flicked down to follow the motion or the pain that filled them briefly at what he saw there. He filed it away as something to be figured out later.

Gabriel disappeared in the blink of an eye, reappearing several feet away between the remaining corpse-less wings, blood coating his chest and pooling on the ground around him. He raised his head slightly to look at first Cas then Dean with a grin, before winking at Sam's 'empty' corner.

"Showtime, kids!"

With that Dean's world went black, his head feeling like he'd just been thrown through a wall head-first. He tightened his grip on the body he held, and gritted his teeth until the pain began to fade…

SPNSPNSPN


	2. Chapter 2

Gabriel let his eyes fall closed for a few minutes – he could afford it until he called Lucifer.

It was selfish, he knew, but he couldn't watch what was happening right now.

He couldn't watch what he was _doing_ to the hunter – hearing it was hard enough.

The man believed they'd lost – believed he'd lost everything – because that's what Gabriel needed him to believe.

He'd had to mask Dean's memories back as far as the previous evening to ensure there would be nothing for Lucifer to pick up that could endanger the plan.

He figured the best way to create believable memories would be to use Dean's real memories as a template as far as possible – it'd make things less confusing when he took the mask away if…_**when**_…they survived this. So he'd taken a quick gander through the hunter's mind, creating new memories and editing copies of existing ones, and stringing them all together.

When he got to the bit after Dean and Castiel had left the bar – – – well, he'd been expecting about half of what he'd found, and now knew far more about his baby brother than he'd ever wanted to.

The wings though…

He hadn't been expecting to see Castiel's wings. They were beautiful – really, truly glorious. And that was seeing them second-hand – a mere human's perception of them. To see them himself…he doubted he would ever be given the opportunity, but it would've been a sight indeed, he was sure.

That Castiel had been so willing to show them to Dean, to let Dean touch them – – – Gabriel was pretty sure the hunter had no idea exactly how big of a deal that was, and he thought maybe his brother should have explained it to the oblivious human, although he could certainly understand why he hadn't.

Pulling himself back to the present he anchored the mask of fake memories, separate above Dean's true memories, and blocked out the hunter's cries and tears and prayers for death as he waited to check it would hold.

Reaching out slightly with his Grace, he called to Castiel.

_*Castiel.*_

_*Brother?*_

_*I need you to check the memory-graft on Dean – try to penetrate it, tell me if it feels real.*_

A moment of silence followed in which he felt faint tugs and prods on the portion of his Grace sustaining the mask, then:

_*It is sound, and if I did not know it for a lie, I would believe it as he does.*_

Gabriel didn't miss the quiver in Castiel's 'voice', and had to remind himself why they were doing this.

_*Thanks bro!*_

He tried to inject some of his usual good humour into the comment, but suspected that it came out a mere echo.

Gabriel quickly moved onto his next task – hiding his and Castiel's Grace signatures so that they'd appear as dead as the rest of the illusion. It was the work of a moment, and they were ready.

Reaching out towards Sam, he slipped through the cloak cast up by the sigils – sigils improved and perfected by Castiel and written in Gabriel's blood – and paused.

_*Sammy…?*_

_*Yeah?*_

He'd thought Castiel sounded distressed – Sam sounded devastated. So much hurt and pain suffused that one word…

_*It's time. I need something from you – a memory.*_

_*Memory?*_

_*From when you died. I need to see the memory from when you were stabbed.*_

_*Why? I mean, okay, of course, but…why?*_

_*Your soul's reaction to it is what I need to mimic to get Luci's attention,* _he started searching as he spoke, and finding it quickly he began to examine it for what he needed. _*I should be able to get what I need from the memory easily enough – definitely beats killing your ass and having to bring you back kiddo.*_

_*Yeah – yeah, I definitely prefer this plan.*_

Gabriel bit back a chuckle. He grabbed an image of what he needed, and returned the memory.

_*Thought you might. Shit's about to hit the fan Sammy, get ready…and remember, trust me – I've got things under control, even if it doesn't look like it.*_

_*Just…be careful Gabe. Dean was right, there are too many ways this could go wrong…*_

_*I'm always careful Sasquatch! See you on the flip-side.*_

With that, Gabriel withdrew into himself and paused. Checking Cas' illusion quickly he counted seventeen dead angels – eighteen including himself.

Nineteen deaths to fake, the last of which – Sam's – should bring his brother running.

With one last quick prayer that everything would go to plan, he braced himself and ripped a chunk of Grace free.

The pain was indescribable.

In all his years he'd never felt anything so agonising, and he hoped to God he never would again.

He waited with clenched fists for it to recede, quietly grateful for Castiel's suggestion that he anchor the memories and cloaks before starting this part – he wasn't sure he could have held them otherwise.

After a few moments he could think clearly again, and he tore-up the piece of Grace into eighteen smaller pieces – one slightly larger than the others (_*After-all,* _he thought, _*Archangel…of course I'd go out with a bigger bang than the rest!*_). He scattered the pieces across the illusion – taking care that they would be unnoticeable to Dean – and took a deep breath.

Reaching out, he flattened the pieces, one or two or three at a time – snuffing them out with only a faint trace left behind, just enough to convince Lucifer that the bodies had been vessels when they died.

He resolutely ignored the growing ache in his remaining Grace – he could deal with the damage later. It wouldn't matter if they lost, after all.

Once they were all gone, Gabriel took the memory he'd copied from Sam, infused it with energy – pure, life-giving energy – and pushed, dragging the energy away at the last second and killing the image of Sam as completely as the knife had originally killed the hunter.

He almost grinned when he felt the approaching presence – Grace, dark and twisted and rotting…a pitiful mockery of past glory.

So far, so good.

SPNSPNSPN

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen…"

Lucifer's voice was soft – a strange mixture of scorn and sadness.

Dean didn't flinch. Didn't even appear to hear him.

Gabriel took a moment to consider how completely he'd managed to destroy the hunter, and his blood ran cold. This was why they'd always turned to him in the past, his brothers.

He wasn't the most feared and respected, that was Michael.

He didn't have the skill that Raphael could boast.

Lucifer had always been the most beautiful.

But Gabriel…Gabriel was sneaky. Gabriel could plan, he was cunning and could be cruel and merciless when he had to be. He had whispered in the ears of the Nephilim until they fell to their own fury; he'd ignored the cries of fear and pain as he rained fire upon Sodom; and now…

Now he was torturing Dean Winchester in a bid to defeat his fallen brother. Torturing Sam and Castiel through Dean.

He briefly wondered if they would be able to forgive him when it was over. If the fragile bonds he'd started to form with them would be broken by this. 'For a good cause' and their naïve agreement to the plan were all well and good in theory, but in reality emotion ruled logic and the scars this left could destroy everything.

A burst of anger from Dean drew Gabriel back into the present, and he focused on the hunter just in time to hear him telling Lucifer to go to hell.

He had to choke back the bark of laughter that bubbled up, because even with everything stripped bare, Dean was still Dean – cocky and brash and reckless to the last.

Lucifer's reply sent a chill down Gabriel's spine; his cool, flat tone as he thanked Dean for killing their brothers made Gabriel feel sick, made him ache for the big brother he'd lost when Lucifer fell.

The cold indifference when Lucifer's eyes came to rest on him…the almost disinterested way he asked Dean who had killed the youngest of the original Archangels…

A fresh burst of pain, of horror and disgust, from Dean tore Gabriel's focus from his brother, and he suddenly wished he could see the hunter, could find out what had caused the sudden emotion, where before there had been only anger and emptiness.

"Why do you weep for my brother, Dean?"

"Because he was better than you, and Michael, and Ra… and Raphael all put together, you asshole!"

"Gabriel fought alongside you?"

"He did what was right."

Gabriel's Grace swelled with gratitude at this defence, at the realisation that the pain had been _for him_. That even with Sam and Cas lying 'dead' around him, there was still room for Gabriel, consideration for the archangel who'd been a thorn in the man's side over the last four years…

A harsh tug on the memory-graft drew Gabriel's attention, and he found himself watching along with Lucifer as Dean remembered his 'last stand' against Raphael – that had been one hell of a speech, if he did say so himself (and he totally _did_!), it was almost a pity he wouldn't get to use it for real…not that he wanted to die of course, but as final words went, they were kind of kick-ass.

Gabriel listened as Lucifer tried to tempt Dean. He could hear Sam mentally screaming at Dean to say no, and spared a second to be glad he'd remembered to block the hidden hunter's thoughts from Lucifer's perception.

His brother's offer to the elder Winchester surprised Gabriel. He hadn't considered this – hadn't thought Lucifer would be willing to settle for anything less than Sam. Confused, Gabriel cautiously reached out with a tiny sliver of Grace, just enough to get a better read on things without drawing attention to himself.

Understanding dawned at the realisation that Lucifer was in far worse shape than he'd been letting on. His vessel was dead – his Grace barely contained within the crumbling husk. Resurrecting Sam would take time, energy, concentration that Lucifer would be pressed to spare at the moment – Dean was a much easier option. The thrill of stealing Michael's vessel was no doubt an additional lure, and Gabriel did not doubt his promise of keeping Sam safe from their older brother – keeping Michael without a vessel would give Lucifer free reign on Earth.

Gabriel could feel as Dean began to waver – Lucifer's offer was beyond tempting, he knew. The hunter had spent almost his entire life keeping his baby brother safe, and now…now he was being offered the chance to make Sammy safe, once and for all. Of course he was wavering.

Carefully – oh so very carefully – Gabriel reached for Dean, sifting unnoticed through the memories of the previous night, until he found what he needed.

As he pulled the memories into focus for the hunter one by one, he prayed the hunter would understand, would realise…

He prayed that the memories of a night filled with hope and love and _family_ would give Dean the strength to hold out.

Gabriel felt Dean's pain. Felt love and anger and sadness. And finally…

Finally he felt determination.

Even as Dean began to speak Gabriel felt the knot in his stomach loosen, and he reached out on instinct to mute Sam's sigh of relief at the words, knowing the hunter would not be able to keep silent at Dean's declaration.

Gabriel wondered if Dean realised exactly how much of a slap in the face his choice of words was for Lucifer – he hoped so, the hunter deserved the satisfaction of a blow well-struck.

'Go to Hell.'

A command echoing the fallen Archangel's original punishment.

He was distracted once more from his thoughts at a rush of air above him followed by the resounding thud of flesh against concrete.

A quick check showed that Dean, whilst injured and immobilised against one of the warehouse's many concrete support struts, was still breathing and conscious. A fact that was quickly confirmed as the hunter began to shout and curse himself coarse in a vain attempt to keep Lucifer away from Sam's body.

A spark of blackened Grace brushed against his own as Lucifer began to pour energy into the dead vessel, and Gabriel bit back a smirk of triumph as they drew one step nearer to success.

_*Hang in there Dean-o, Sammy's safe. I swear I'll keep him safe,*_ Gabriel promised, careful not to broadcast the thought to the despairing hunter.

There was still a lot that could go wrong, but Gabriel felt confident. Confident that they could pull it off, that his back-up plan wouldn't be needed.

Only Cas knew about the back-up plan. He hadn't felt it worth worrying the brothers.

If things went south then it was up to Castiel to get Dean and Sam somewhere safe while he dealt with their brother. And by dealt with, he meant took out with extreme prejudice in a kamikaze run. He might not have mentioned the 'kamikaze' bit to Cas, but he had a feeling the younger archangel – and how weird was that? Not being the youngest archangel anymore… – knew anyway.

He watched as life flooded the body in front of Lucifer, and quickly made the connection between it and the hidden hunter.

_*You're up Sammy – knock 'em dead kiddo!*_

SPNSPNSPN

_*You're up Sammy – knock 'em dead kiddo!*_

_*If only!*_ He shot back with a hint of wistfulness.

_*Clever,* _came the archangel's snarky come-back, followed by, _*now, focus Sasquatch – don't screw-up. If I tell you to do something, you do it. And don't panic, for Dad's sake!*_

Sam bit back a chuckle at the last statement.

_*Got it, Gabe – we've been over this how many times? I know the plan.*_

Sam was very carefully ignoring his brother's shouts and curses, he couldn't afford to split his focus on this.

Shit. He hoped Dean would be able to forgive them for this. He'd agreed to the plan, but it had been Sam and Gabriel's idea to put him out there, alone against the Devil, alone against everything…

_*Okay Sammy, he's nearly done, on three start gasping like you've spent the last hour holding your breath…one, two, three!*_

Sam gasped and spluttered and breathed deeply, taking a good fifteen heaving breaths – and becoming quite light-headed in the process – before slowing to a more normal rate.

Standing from the stool, Sam watched as the copy scrabbled from its spot on the floor to mimic him and rise to its feet.

It was…disconcerting, to say the least. He turned his head slowly, looking first to his brother, then across the warehouse slowly, making sure to pause on first Cas and then Gabe. Finally he looked back to his brother, grief and pain filling his eyes – _*making it more convincing,*_ he thought a little bitterly – as he tried to imagine what Dean must be going through.

_*Focus Sammy!*_

Gabe's voice echoed through his head, and he realised that Lucifer had spoken while he'd been distracted.

_*He said hi…your turn…*_

If there was a nervous edge to Gabriel's thoughts – well, it was probably best to ignore that for now.

"Lucifer."

To speak and hear his voice come not from his mouth, but from across the room, was a strange experience.

He angled his body towards the fallen archangel, his eyes leaving his brother to follow, and the copy spun on the spot to face Lucifer.

"Let Dean go."

He already knew the answer, but he had to ask, had to let Lucifer believe he was desperate enough to be that hopeful, to ask for something he couldn't possibly believe he'd get.

"I'm afraid I can't do that just yet Sam. I need something from you first. I just need one tiny little word, Sam, and Dean can leave. I'll even wipe his memory, set him up safe and happy somewhere. He'll never know what happened. He won't even remember Hell."

Out of the corner of his eye – he didn't dare turn his head, didn't dare make the copy take its eyes off the Devil – he saw as Dean struggled silently against the force pinning him to the concrete.

"No."

"I won't ask nicely again Sam..."

The threat was clear in Lucifer's voice, and Sam kept his face carefully blank. After a few seconds of silence, Lucifer let out a sigh.

"As you wish."

Sam heard Dean gasp faintly, and he itched to check on his brother, but he kept his eyes resolutely on the fallen archangel.

"His death will not be quick. It also won't be the end."

At this Sam twisted to stare at his brother.

_*Not again,*_ he thought in horror. He knew what Lucifer was hinting at, and he wasn't sure he could watch it again…

_*You won't have to kid,*_ came Gabriel's voice suddenly, thick with an old guilt. _*Just go with me here…start thinking nothing but 'not again' – just those two words on a continuous loop; nothing else, understood? I'm going to let your thoughts broadcast for just long enough for my bro to realise he's hit a sore point. After a few repeats, lock it down – think of empty space, a black wall of nothing, whatever works. I'll shut it off then so you'll only need to hold that for a fraction of a second Sammy. Ready?*_

_*Yeah.*_

"I will kill him, again and again Sam, until you say yes. Can you watch him die over and over? All because you're too selfish to give one single right answer…"

He let his horror show on his face, bowing his head slightly, eyes wide as he watched his brother gasp for air.

_*Go.*_

He was terrified of screwing it up, but he focussed, even managing to channel his fear into the thought.

_*Not again. Not again. Not again.*_

Over and over he chanted, until he saw Lucifer's triumphant smirk. One more second to be safe, and then he let his eyes fall closed and remembered what dying had felt like – remembered the encroaching blackness and his mind-numbing until there was nothing.

_*Good job Sammy,*_ he heard faintly, and he allowed himself to focus again, keeping his eyes closed, careful not to move as he listened. _*Now, I'm gonna ask you a question in a sec, and I need you to answer it out loud, 'kay kiddo? But first I need you to open your eyes, look at my brother, and then nod – but if the copy nods along, then for Dad's sake keep your mouth shut!*_

_*Okay.*_

Sam raised his head slowly and opened his eyes, turning his head back to face Lucifer. Just before he nodded he felt a faint tug in his chest.

He watched his copy out of the corner of his eye, and was relieved to see its head remain stationary as he nodded.

_*Are you ready for this to be over Sammy?*_

Another faint tug in his chest followed, and he half-whispered, half-choked out his reply.

"Yes."

He heard the copy speak, heard the faint thump as Dean collapsed to the floor.

He watched Lucifer's vessel crumble to dust as he left it, and felt a moment's sympathy for the man it had once been.

Sam felt a final tug as Lucifer's push broke his connection to the copy for the last time, and at last he let himself smile.

_*It worked…*_ he thought in amazement.

He watched the look of shock and anger that formed on Lucifer's face, watched as he tried to turn on Dean as he realised something had gone wrong.

Watched as he froze in place mid-step as first Gabriel, then Cas rose from their places on the ground, all traces of injury disappearing along with the battle-scene as Castiel finally relaxed his hold on the illusion.

_*Yeah Sammy, it worked. Come over and say hi…I've got him – he's not going anywhere.*_

He walked forward, leaving the warded area to join his brother – who looked hurt and tired, and seriously confused.

"Dean…?"

"Oh right! Sorry Dean-o," Gabriel said with a shrug, "was a bit distracted by my big bro over here…"

He snapped his fingers lazily, and Sam watched as comprehension dawned on Dean's face. He still looked tired, but now there was disbelief and an almost wary joy there too.

"We did it…?"

"We were successful," came Castiel's reply as he moved to place his hand softly on Dean's shoulder.

"Now we just need to hide him and hope Mikey'll go home to sulk for a century or so…"

Sam shot his best bitch-face at Gabriel and laughed as the archangel disappeared to reappear behind him as Dean's hand swatted the empty air where his head had been only a moment ago.

"Dammit! Hold still! – – – you deserve more than a slap – you just jinxed us! Damned candy-loving, snarky, smart-assed archangel!"

"You worry too much, Winchester!"

SPNSPNSPN

If anyone noticed the confused and extremely freaked-out look in the frozen fallen archangel's eyes – well, they couldn't be blamed for ignoring him for a bit, could they? They'd all earned a few minutes of relaxation before they got back to work, hadn't they?

Lucifer shouted and screamed uselessly from within his cage of flesh and bone.


	3. The Plan, part 1

**So, this one's been a long time coming - sorry about that! Hopefully you'll think it's worth the wait, because here's part one of The Plan, as designed by our favourite trickster :-D Reviews will help keep up the writing momentum and get part 2 finished that much quicker... *hint hint nudge nudge* :-D**

* * *

_Rewind to Sam and Gabriel leaving the karaoke bar:_

"Not to be a kill-joy, but we do need to fix tomorrow's plan, and something tells me Dean and Cas'll probably have other things on their minds right now..."

"You know, all work and no play will make Sammy a very dull boy..." Gabriel complained, raising his hand, fingers poised. "You gonna stand up this time, or are we stealing the chair? Wouldn't want you bruising that cute ass on the floor again now, would we?" He smirked, and then snapped without giving Sam time to reply.

_And what happened next:_

They didn't steal the chair.

They appeared in the motel room, on one of the beds – apparently changing someone's stance in-flight was entirely possible, and Gabriel had either not thought to land Sam stood up at the bar, or had actually intended him to land on his ass like an idiot.

Somehow Sam thought the latter option was more likely.

"Gabe?"

"Yeah Sammy...?"

"We're at the motel..."

"Well, aren't you an observant little human," Gabriel snarked.

The bitch-face he got in return made him grin smugly.

"Why are we at the motel, and where are Cas and Dean?"

"Oh – I couldn't sense them here, so I figured we wouldn't be risking getting an eye-full – they probably just went somewhere more private to 'talk'," Gabriel replied, leering on the last word in case Sam somehow managed to miss the implication in his tone.

A moment of silence and then...

"Gabe...?"

"Sasquatch...?" Gabriel raised his eyebrows as he mimicked the hunter's questioning tone.

"When you say you couldn't sense them here, you mean you couldn't sense Cas, right?"

"Obviously – you know I can't pick you or Dean up through those sigils of Cassie's," he answered, no small amount of pride evident at his brother's skilled work.

"Like you couldn't sense Cas after he started cloaking at the club...?"

"Oh. Right." A pause, and then, "well that could've been interesting..."

"Interesting...? Dude, there are some sides of my brother I never, ever want to see."

"Oh lighten up, Sammy! Want a butterscotch?"

Sam couldn't help returning the archangel's grin as he reached to take a sweet from the bag that had appeared in Gabriel's outstretched hand.

A comfortable silence descended as they sat sucking on the sickly sweet treats. Finally Sam spoke up.

"So, new plan?"

"New plan," Gabriel nodded.

The old plan certainly wasn't worth the risk anymore. It was a dangerous long-shot at best, and even with Cas being powered up it was still a long-shot.

No, it would be a far better idea to start from scratch.

"We could wait a few days, maybe...? Give Cas a chance to get used to the upgrade first?"

"It'd be a risk, Sammy – someone could find out what happened. You wanna chance losing the only advantage we're ever likely to have? Other than me, I mean?"

He added the last part with a smug grin that almost reached his eyes.

Sam wanted to grin and sigh simultaneously at the bravado. Some laughed in the face of danger – Gabriel stuck his tongue out at it and pulled its hair. That was just who he was.

The whole time they'd known him, he'd never been any different, but now Sam caught himself wondering – had the grins and smirks _ever_ reached the archangel's eyes? Was it helping them, working against his family, that had made it an empty act? Or had it always been that way?

Shaking off the melancholy thought, Sam smirked back, raising one eyebrow slightly.

"Because we'd be lost without the constant supply of sugary treats you provide."

"An army marches on its stomach, kiddo," Gabriel responded, his grin a little more real this time, his eyes softening slightly as he flicked a butterscotch at the hunter.

The candy missile hit Sam square on the nose, and Gabriel snorted at the hunter's pained and indignant squawk.

Sam picked the sweet up off the bed, unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth, rubbing lightly at his nose.

"If you had your way, this army would spend all day bouncing off the walls on a sugar-high."

"Well, half of it would... Archangel, remember?" Gabriel pointed to himself smugly at the latter half of his reply.

"Like you'd let us forget," Sam snarked back, half-heartedly throwing a pillow at his companion. As expected the pillow didn't hit its target – instead it veered off and made a small loop, before heading straight for Sam, who batted it away with a laugh before speaking again.

"Do we still go after Lucifer first?"

"Work, work, work..." Gabriel muttered good-naturedly before answering. "I think so, yeah. If we can deal with him, Michael may just give up and go home."

"Is that likely?"

"No." Gabriel let out a harsh, humourless laugh. "No, it's not. But it's possible – we can at least give him the chance can't we Sammy?"

Sam forgot sometimes that Michael and Lucifer weren't just the enemy. They were Gabriel's brothers.

"Yeah, we can give him the chance Gabe," he replied softly.

"Thanks, kiddo..." he sucked in a shaky, unnecessary breath, "dunno what good it'll do, but thanks." Gabriel paused for a moment, and then continued before Sam could say anything else. "Don't throw the old plan away just yet though..."

"What're you thinking?" Sam eyed the archangel warily – even knowing he wasn't the target, Gabriel's 'trickster' side still made him nervous.

"I'm thinking Luci's gonna expect to be tricked..."

"We knew that..." Sam's interruption was ignored.

"...so we let him catch us with our pants down – or at least, we let him think he's caught us with our pants down. If he thinks he's got the upper-hand on us already, perhaps he'll be too busy gloating to notice if anything else is off."

"So we, what...let him think our plan went wrong somehow?"

"A plan within a plan Sammy."

"Okay, step-by-step it for me...I wanna make sure we're not gonna trip ourselves up anywhere," Sam replied, picking up the pen and notepad that appeared in front of him at Gabriel's snap.

"So, we've got the old plan, right...?"

"Step-by-step, Gabe – I don't wanna miss _anything_."

"Sure thing boss!" Gabe smirked. "Okay, so we've got the old plan," he held up a hand in defence as he continued, "_which is_ go somewhere neutral, put up wards to limit Luci without also limiting me and Cas too much, cloak the whole area from the Host, and call Luci to come play by removing your rib-art. We have me, you, Dean and an illusion of Cas in full sight, me with a copy of my sword in hand, and we have Cas sneak up from behind him with my real sword and do the dirty work."

Even knowing this wasn't the plan anymore, Gabriel couldn't help the frustration that crept into his tone. It was the one part of the plan he really, really hadn't been happy with, putting Cas out there alone like that. He'd been out-voted though.

SPNSPN

"_It's too dangerous, bro! If he susses us out you wouldn't stand a chance."_

"_And you would Gabriel? I may be weaker than our brother, and I may be weaker than you, but I believe in this instance I am the best-suited for the job. My love for our brother was distant before he was cast down, and my experiences since my own fall began have ensured I have no sympathy for him. __**You**__ are still emotionally involved. Your love for our brother – even tempered as it is with hate – puts you at a greater disadvantage than my lack of strength does me."_

"_Besides, Cas hardly knew the guy...angel, devil, whatever..." Dean interrupted. "You were close to him though, weren't you? Like me and Sammy close? I'm not such a hypocrite that I'd try and make you do what I never could."_

"_Me or Dean would've done it, but Cas is insisting."_

"_So him you'll listen to, but I've gotta do as I'm told?"_

"_Dude, do you __**want**__ to kill your brother?"_

"_I don't want Cas to have to do it because I'm too much of a coward Dean."_

"_Gabe, no-one thinks you're a coward. It's your family..."_

"_It's Cassie's family too, Sasquatch..."_

"_Gabriel."_

_Castiel was using his 'you __**will**__ show me some respect' tone, and it silenced the other three quickly._

"_I __**am**__ doing this. If it fails...if he kills me, it will be down to __**you**__ to save Sam and Dean, to re-group and come up with something else. We cannot afford to risk you – not when I am no longer powerful enough to help them alone. I'm prepared for what I'll need to do, I am more capable than you of doing it, and that's an end to it."_

SPNSPN

"Okay, so that's the plan we're screwing up, right?"

"Yup, we'll call it Plan B for now – B for Bad, that works, right? Anyways, what do you think would happen to that plan – if Cas was still practically human – if Michael got wind of it?"

"Nothing good, that's for sure..." Sam answered, the blood running from his face as he considered the possibilities.

"So, we're in Plan B, right? And the wards I'm throwing up to cloak the area from Heaven are blocking our attempts to call Luci. I bring the wards down enough to let us get through, stupidly forgetting that Lucifer's not the only one who'll be able to pick you up..."

"Shit! How did we miss that first time around?" Sam exclaimed, horrified that their plan had had such a fatal flaw.

"We didn't miss it Sammy, I've got more tricks up my sleeve than your average Archangel – I'm pretty sure I could've kept us cloaked from heaven regardless..." Gabriel's cocky grin did nothing to re-assure the hunter.

"_Pretty sure_...?"

"Well, yeah...like eighty percent sure at least...does it matter Sammy? It's sort of a moot point now anyways..."

"You should have told us..."

"You should have thought to ask. Look, it was the only plan we had, I was confident I could do it, it wasn't worth worrying you over something none of us could do anything about when it wasn't likely to be a problem anyway."

Sam wasn't sure he agreed, but was willing to concede the point for now – at least what was a potential flaw would work in their favour now, making their fake screw-up more plausible.

"Just to be clear, this is still a hypothetical right? We're not actually gonna let Michael find us?"

"Course not Sammy...Like I said, I'd rather not deal with my biggest bro at all if I can help it."

"Okay, in that case, I know I said step-by-step, but we probably don't need to put this much thought into the 'what if'..."

"Trust me kiddo, it's all important. So anyways, I bring down the wards and you pop up on Mikey's radar, a big blinding beacon flashing bright red at him. He's not going to put himself in the firing line yet, so he'll send Raphael down, with two dozen or so angels as back-up, because we've been such a pain in the ass so far. They'll all have to vessel-up because of the wards we'll have up against vessel-less angels – remind me to get Cas to help with the sigils for those, we'll actually need them for real, and they're a bit weak for my liking."

Sam nodded slightly as he jotted notes down, motioning for Gabriel to continue.

"Raphael's gonna be surprised to see me – we'll have words and I'll tell my brother I've finally picked a side in the family squabble. I think I'll make that bit nice and dramatic – final words should always be fairly dramatic, don't you think Sammy?"

"Final words...?" Sam's hand froze over the paper, not liking the sound of this at all.

Sure it was only a what-if, but before Cas got his mojo back it had been a might-have-been, one the rest of them didn't even consider.

Gabriel had admitted there was at least a twenty percent chance Heaven would pick them up, and there was no doubt in Sam's mind that Gabriel had considered that happening long before now. Everything he was saying was coming too easily, too quickly...it was too well thought-out to be off the top of his head, even for the Archangel. He knew his brothers, knew how they would react...

Gabriel had been preparing to die, and he hadn't told any of them.

Before Gabriel could respond Sam spoke again.

"You son of a bitch!"

"What...?" Gabriel's confusion would have been comical if Sam hadn't been so very pissed off. "Sammy, hypothetical, remember? Not really happening..."

"But it could have, right? Twenty percent chance you couldn't hold the cloak, you said. Twenty percent chance that everything you're saying now could actually have happened. _Jesus Christ,_ Gabriel – twenty percent chance you could have ended up dead!"

"Twenty percent chance we all could have ended up dead and worse Sammy..." Gabriel whispered softly, looking down at the bed, unable to meet the hunter's eyes. "I wasn't being a hero, not telling you. I just...what good would it have done, knowing? I mean really? There was a chance Lucifer would kill us anyway, we all knew that. We were preparing to die tonight Sam, you know it and I know it. What difference did it make who might be holding the sword when the time came?"

Sam watched as the Archangel raised his head, eyes filled with a desperate need to be understood. The hunter stayed silent.

"You, Dean, Cas...you didn't need to worry about it, because I was gonna do everything in my power to make sure it didn't happen, and if I failed... Sammy, if I failed none of us were walking away from what would follow."

"Gabe..." Sam trailed off, not sure how to ask...but he needed to know. "Gabe, we'll still have to call Lucifer for the new plan won't we...? What's to stop it from happening for real?"

"Cas. I'll give you the details later, but basically he can cloak us while I get Luci's attention. There'll be no 'Sam Winchester is here' signs on anyone's maps..." he paused for breath before continuing. "Sam, I..."

He was worried, Sam realized abruptly. Worried that he'd screwed up, lost Sam's trust...

"I get it." Sam said, cutting him off. "I don't like it, but I get it. It's...it's what you do – for family – you protect them. Even when you can't save them, you can still try to protect them..."

Sam didn't know what kind of reply he'd expected, but he certainly hadn't expected the Archangel to disappear.


	4. The Plan, part 2

**The final chapter of this part of the series! Next up will be the aftermath of Lucifer's defeat, which I'll be starting to draft soon :-D I'll post a note as an extra chapter here when it goes up, so story alert this (if you haven't already! lol) if you don't want to miss it :-D Thanks for the reviews/alerts/favourites! Now on with the story...**

* * *

Gabriel ran.

It wasn't a planned reaction, he didn't think about it. He just fled.

Sam's words had caught him off-guard. They echoed through his head as he came to rest on a remote mountainside.

_*it's what you do – for family*_

Family.

He shouldn't have left – it wasn't fair to leave Sam hanging like that, but what Sam had been offering...it was everything Gabriel hadn't dared to want or dream of, had _despaired_ of finding, ever since the day he'd fled Heaven.

A family. A place to belong, people to belong to...he wanted it so badly his Grace ached and burned with it.

Could he have it though? Could he risk it? Risk opening himself up like that again...

Although, he realised suddenly, he'd made that choice already when he'd joined Team Free Will.

Gabriel shook his head slightly at the ridiculous name. He'd voted for Team 'Save Earth: they have Chocolate', Sam had been pulling for Team Screw Destiny, but Cas had sided with Dean on his oh-so-imaginative 'Team Free Will', so they'd both been out-voted two to one.

He'd gone to them, set this ball rolling...and now he was running scared.

Again.

_*Maybe I'm just not cut out for the whole 'playing well with others' thing...*_ he thought dryly.

Cut out for it or not though, it was too late to back out now. He wasn't about to leave his team...his friends...

_*Family...*_ The word echoed through his head, but he couldn't use it, not yet.

...he wasn't going to ditch them now just because he had some serious abandonment and family conflict issues.

Resolved, he left the mountain-top and headed back to Sam.

SPNSPNSPN

Sam was still staring at the empty spot Gabriel had occupied when he reappeared, this time stood beside the bed.

Sam looked up, hand reaching automatically to accept the mug being held out to him.

"Figured we could use some liquid sustenance Sammy – caramel hot chocolate, extra cream and mini marshmallows too," Gabriel chirped happily, grinning as he sat back down at the foot of the bed.

If Sam noticed that the tone was a little off, the smile a little awkward...well, that was his eyes and ears playing tricks on him, right?

He grinned back, willing to let Gabriel pretend for now that he hadn't freaked out.

It had taken Sam all of ten seconds to realise what had likely prompted Gabriel's flight, and he'd spent the rest of the time trying to figure out when he'd given Gabriel the label 'family', and cursing himself for throwing it out there so casually.

"Thanks Gabe," he replied, taking a sip of his chocolate.

They sat like that for a few minutes, a comfortable silence broken only by quiet slurps as they drank. Finally Sam spoke.

"I still don't see why we need to put this much thought into a 'what if...' Gabe."

"You will Sammy, just bear with me. It's gotta make sense – if there's one thing my brother isn't, it's stupid...you're not gonna yell at me again when I add more unpleasant details, are ya Sasquatch?"

"I'll bite my tongue, as long as you have a point and get there."

"I'll get there, just bear with me, this bit isn't gonna be pretty…So, I'll steal the stage with my awesome speech, and then my bro will be a complete douche and order the attack. The big battle won't last very long – this is the bit you won't like, but I swear I have a point, 'kay?"

At Sam's nod, he continued.

"Cas would fall first, saving you from our brothers, buying you an extra few minutes. Raphael and I are pretty evenly matched, but when you fall so will I – distractions like that are kinda lethal after all kiddo."

Sam couldn't help thinking that Gabriel's smirk wasn't entirely appropriate, given his words, but he bit his tongue as he'd promised he would.

"Raphael will leave your brother alive. Michael's not gonna want to lose his vessel, just in case – and besides, killing him at that point would probably be a kindness, and Raph…Raph forgot what that was a long time ago." _*When Lucifer broke his faith in everything,*_ he thought, but didn't say.

Raphael didn't remember the love of a brother saving him. He remembered the twisted hatred of a brother leaving him for dead.

"Lucifer will turn up after he leaves – he won't risk facing them in the poor excuse for a vessel he's got at the moment. This is where things'll get tricky Sammy."

_*Obviously. Because three quarters of them dying horribly wasn't tricky or, you know, a bad plan.*_

"This is the bit where Plan B merges with Plan A…"

"A for Awesome?" Sam interjected with a knowing smirk.

Gabriel grinned back and threw a candy at Sam before replying.

"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy…are you implying that I'm getting predictable? Because rumours like that can ruin a Trickster's reputation, ya know…"

"Dude, since when do you care what people think of you? Besides, anyone says anything you don't like ends up regretting it, I'm sure."

"You, my dear Sasquatch, make a very good point," Gabriel smirked. "Anywho…Luci turning up is when this goes from hypothetical to actual. Lucifer will be in the warehouse, and so will Dean-o. We need Lucifer to believe our plan went wrong, and he's as good as I am at getting into people's heads uninvited, so Dean will need to thoroughly believe that Plan B happened."

"You'll alter his memories."

"Got it in one Sammy."

"That's why you needed all the detail…"

"Yup."

"Okay, Plan A from the beginning Gabe. If we're even considering letting my brother believe he's lost everything for any amount of time, I wanna make sure it's worth it. Make sure it'll work."

"We set up the warehouse first…"

"Warehouse?"

"Big open space, plenty of nooks and crannies to hide sigils, generally fairly secluded…"

"Point. Okay, so set-up the warehouse…"

"The wards to keep out vessel-less angels are the most important bit, and we'll add a few sigils that will affect fallen angels, weaken them. They won't have a huge impact on my bro, but they'll do enough that he shouldn't smell a trap, and they should make him think twice about doing anything too drastic."

"Drastic like…?"

"Killing your brother. He won't risk drawing Mikey or Raf's attention when he's not at full strength."

"Right…and you're sure about that?"

"As sure as I can be Sammy. If it looks like he's feeling particularly stupid or suicidal, I'll step in – and you know Cas won't let anything happen to him either…he'll be as safe as the rest of us kiddo, I promise – trust me?"

"Completely."

Sam's response was immediate, the certainty in his voice making Gabriel swallow hard around the lump that had absolutely no business forming in an Archangel's throat.

"Once the warehouse is ready, Cas can cloak the whole area from Heaven, and mojo us up a bloody battle scene. I'll be making Cas and myself appear dead, cloaking you, and holding the fake memories in place in your brother's mind. Then I send out an echo of some explosions of Grace, enough that he'll believe the battlefield, and I'll make him think you're dead – that should bring him running."

Sam held up his hand, cutting the archangel off.

"Two questions: One – won't I need to look dead too? If he can't see me won't he know something's up? And two – 'holding' the memories? Can't you just plant them and that's that?"

"Memories are a tricky thing Sammy, unless you want to risk your brother being stuck permanently with more traumatising memories it's better if I just hold them there like a mask. No messing with actual memories, but they'll feel real to Dean, and they'll feel real to Luci. As for your own awesome self – well that's where the trick comes in Gigantor. You'll be hidden, but my brother will see your corpse along with the rest of us."

"You know you're not making sense, right?"

"We're gonna clone you kiddo."

"Because giving Lucifer a back-up vessel is an awesome plan," Sam dead-panned, his expression the bitch-face Gabriel had come to realise meant 'You are a complete moron who was dropped on his head as a child. Repeatedly.'

"Actually, it is an awesome plan. Sammy the Second will have a few very important tweaks that Luci won't be able to see from the outside. Big bro will bring 'you' back to life, at which point 'real' you will be in the driving seat – think remote control – how's your acting Sammy? Because this is the bit where you have to make him believe he's broken you – you have to say yes, and you have to do it believably or we're all completely screwed."

"I can do it – but how does giving the devil my face help us?"

"It's a trap. There are sigils that can block an angel – even an archangel – from accessing their Grace, and we're going to build them into the clone's DNA. Without access to his Grace Luci won't be able to leave the vessel, and trying to break the sigils would destroy the vessel entirely."

"Wouldn't that set him free though?"

"No Sammy…no, it wouldn't destroy _only_ the vessel…"

"You're talking about making him human."

"No-one else needs to die Sammy. We could finally end it, everyone walks away…"

"Lucifer despises humanity Gabe, he might not…I mean, what if he decides…"

"Then it'll be his choice. We can't _make_ him take this second chance, but we can try to offer it…we can try to avoid any more bloodshed."

"Michael might not let him walk away human…"

"We'll figure something out if it comes to that. Let's not borrow any more trouble for now – one apocalypse is plenty to be going on with, don't ya think kiddo?"

"I guess…so that's the plan?"

"What do you think? You're the brains of this operation – I'm just the magical muscle," Gabriel smirked, popping a piece of butterscotch candy into his mouth.

Sam snorted. Anyone who thought Gabriel was _just_ anything deserved whatever they got – Sam knew better than to under-estimate the archangel.

"You know it's a good plan Gabe, quit fishing for compliments," he snarked back, grabbing a piece of candy from the bowl before Gabriel could stop him, grinning at the trickster-angel's indignant squawk.

"Candy-thief!"

"S'not like you can't snap up more…"

"That is _so_ not the point Sammy!"

"Sharing's good for the soul Gabe, get over it."

Sam grinned happily around his stolen candy as he settled into the comfortable banter, happy to relax for a little while.

Tomorrow was going to be hard, but if it worked…

Sam jumped slightly when the first piece of popcorn – and when the hell had that appeared? – hit him in the face, then quickly grabbed a handful and began to return fire, ducking behind the dresser for cover only to have it disappear. He spared a brief thought to hope Gabriel brought it back in one piece – his favourite sweatshirt was in there – before grabbing a handful of candy-corn from one of the dozen snack-bowls now resting on his bed and launching it at the archangel with a laugh.

* * *

**Like? Hate? Please let me know either way :-D Reviews are awesome, and will influence future writing and the speed there-of *grins* Watch this space for the next part in the series! :-D**

**Sarah x**


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